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Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. A clinical trial or study involves research that seeks to answer a scientific or medical question about the safety or potential benefit of an intervention, such as a medication, device, teaching concept, or behavioral change, thus adding to medical knowledge.

Many clinical trials are conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of new/investigational drugs, devices, or procedures. Typically, researchers first test new therapies or procedures in the laboratory and in animals. The treatments that show promise are moved into clinical trials, often requiring multiple phases of trials to potentially move toward drug or therapy approval by the FDA. The results from one clinical trial typically provide data about safety and efficacy to direct continued research. A volunteer’s involvement helps researchers to ultimately uncover better ways to treat, prevent, diagnose, and understand human disease.